Goat island isn’t far from shore in Laie, Oahu. In low tide it’s (fairly) easy to walk from the beach to the island and believe me, the trip is well worth it.

What you need to know:

Water shoes are a necessity for walking across the rocks and the reef to reach the island. And don’t bother bringing lots of stuff with you. (We brought a cooler and it was just a big hassle). The area you walk across is right where waves from either side of you break, so it is a bit of a balancing act. Expect to get wet.

Maunawili Falls is a cute little waterfall that people love to jump off of into the water below. But you can’t just drive up to it, oh no, you have to hike. And it’s not a short, nor easy hike.

Somehow we missed the whole hike aspect and showed up in flip flops. Boy, was that a mistake. It was so muddy that we ended up just going barefoot to avoid slipping. There is something satisfying about feeling the mud squish in between your toes.

The biggest problem about this whole hike thing is that is was three miles and not especially easy. I was just barely starting to get over the whole wanting to puke my guts up 24/7 stage of pregnancy and the most exercise I had done was walking from my bed to the bathroom. So we took our sweet time and took A LOT of breaks.

HOWEVER, if I had saved up my pennies to go to Hawaii I would not waste those pennies at the Honolulu Zoo. It was a great activity for living here and needing something to do on a day off. But it wasn’t free and it was just a zoo. Nothing especially Hawaiian about it.

We went to Pearl Harbor to see the USS Arizona. However, because you have to take a ferry out to the Arizona and the viewing area is on some sort of dock (I guess) and the weather was a teeny bit windy and sprinkly, they weren’t letting anyone over there. So instead we toured a super cool submarine, the USS Bowfin.

What you need to know:

It’s free to just walk into the Pearl Harbor memorial and gift shop area but depending on what you want to tour you have to buy a ticket.

For $10 a person ($7 with a Hawaii ID) we got to tour the USS Bowfin museum with truly hilarious posters encouraging men to live in a place where they didn’t even get their own bed with lots of other men and inadequate showering facilities to serve their country. Also some other cool submarine stuff. And by cool I mean it was a little bit boring.

Then we were given a head set with one of those things where you press the number of the station you’re at and a husky male voice tells you all about the history of where you are standing.

We finally hiked the Makapu’u Lighthouse trail I can’t believe it took us so long to try it since it’s like a 10 minute drive from our house. The hike really isn’t difficult and the view is absolutely incredible!

What you need to know:

There is no charge to get in, which is probably one of the reasons we chose to do it. We were bored and it was free. I was all dressed and ready for a hike, but Chris was in slippers (flip flops) and he did fine. We also passed a girl wearing a dress.

The whole hike to the makapu’u lighthouse is paved and is about 2 miles round trip. Parts of the road have pot holes and cracks. It’s basically like walking up a steep-ish hill with an incredible view. You could still push a good stroller up it.

I decided to go to Bishop’s Museum because I read about it somewhere and I pass the sign for it every morning on my way to work. Unfortunately, our trip there was a bit of a let down. Even with our in-state discount it still cost $22 for the both of us.

For some reason, I feel like when you get older you’re supposed to like museums and learning and stuff. Well despite the fact that I’m not a teenager anymore, the museum was pretty boring.

What you need to know:

The exhibits are all about the Hawaiian culture and whatnot which is probably interesting, but in a museum atmosphere, it was just boring.

As is natural in Hawaii, I’ve done a lot of swimming while I’ve been here. However, swimming here at Waimea Valley falls has been my favorite by far, and I’ll tell you why.

What you need to know:

The hike up to the waterfall is a collection of gardens to showcase flowers and plants that can be found around the islands. There are apparently also areas that you can stop and do an activity or talk to a tour guide, but we didn’t see any of that. The ‘hike’ is only half a mile but if you walk through all the different gardens it’s a little further than that. If you aren’t able to walk the half mile to the waterfalls, there’s a transport service in golf carts to and from. But honestly, the hike isn’t bad. It’s all paved and if you walk straight there it doesn’t take very long at all. You could easily take a stroller.

I have to be honest, while it was really cool to see all the fun plants, I really just wanted to get to the waterfall and I would have much rather seen these cool plants in their natural habitats and not in some gardens where they were planted.

The Polynesian Cultural Center or the PCC as it is more commonly referred, was a whole lot more than I expected. And surprisingly it reminded me most of Disney World. Crazy? Right! Think Epcot but instead of various countries of the world it’s various Polynesian islands. In each island there are presentations, hands on classes and activities and shows. So, get there early so you can have enough time to visit all the different islands: Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti, Hawaii, New Zealand, Fiji, and Marquesas.

What you need to know:

There are plenty of different packages you can buy, depending on what sort of food options you want and whether or not you want to see the Ha Breath of Life show. Parking is definitely not an issue.

You’ll want to get there early enough to enjoy the activities and shows at each island. You could honestly spend the whole day there.

I had heard a lot of great things about this particular shave ice place and so I had to put it on my to-do list. I’ve never been a fan of shave ice or icees before, but everyone said this place was so good, and seriously it’s just flavoring on a bunch of ice, how could you not like it, right?

I honestly believe I am the only person who has ever tried Matsumoto shave ice and doesn’t like it. In fact, not only do I not like it, just writing this post and thinking about it makes me want to vomit.

But don’t let my odd pickiness about food deter you from going there. Like I mentioned, everyone else who has ever been there loves it, including my husband.